


Don't Go

by starwalker42



Series: Sortis (orig. on FF.Net) [11]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, Episode: s06e10 Tithonus, F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starwalker42/pseuds/starwalker42
Summary: She asks if love lasts forever. Fellig says no, and she tries not to think of the day in the future when she won't remember Mulder's name.
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Series: Sortis (orig. on FF.Net) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745140
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Don't Go

NEW YORK CITY, JANUARY 1999

She asks if love lasts forever.

Fellig says no, and she tries not to think of the day in the future when she won't remember Mulder's name.

When she is shot, all she can think is that maybe Fellig was right, maybe you can have too much life. Maybe dying is a sad necessity to prevent all the pain. She doesn't doubt that he's telling the truth, now. The look in his eyes when he told her he'd forgotten his wife, or when he told her she was going to die, was too raw to be a lie.

He's a haunted man.

xXx

Part of her brain recognises she's been shot, and it is processed in a distant, detached way, as she slides down the wall onto the floor. There's blood at the back of her throat. Her head feels weak, empty, like she's about to faint.

She is no longer in control of where her mind goes. Even as she wants to focus on shouting for help, or applying pressure to her wound, or -is that Ritter?- she can't, her mind won't let her. It drifts to something else, somewhere else, someone else.

_Mulder?_

"I'm here, Scully." He smiles and brushes her hair out of her eyes.

_It hurts._

"Aw, you've gone through worse. It's a flesh wound, that's all." The humour and love in his voice let her know he's lying. But he's trying to comfort her anyway.

_I'm dying._

"It's okay," he whispers, stroking her cheek with his thumb, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "It's okay, you'll be fine."

_Where are you?_

He frowns, amused. "I'm right here."

_You're not real._

"There she is. My little skeptic."

_Mulder._

"I'm coming to you. Hold on for me."

_I can't._

He flickers in her vision, an image that dissolves and weakens before solidifying anew.

_Don't go._

Mulder takes her hand. "Don't look."

_Mulder, don't go._

"Close your eyes."

She is powerless not to. She feels everything in slow motion; the pain in her stomach, the hand tightening around hers, the cool breeze over her face. The darkness creeps in painfully slowly, too, wiping out the last traces of consciousness as she surrenders to it with no more struggle.

xXx

Every second that passes is another second he spends wondering if he can survive without her, wondering how he will cope in a world which she's not in. He hasn't had any updates in over two hours. She's lost so much blood, and the bullet could have torn through any number of organs, and he tries not to imagine her scared, bleeding out against the wall in that darkroom- but who wouldn't be, with a gaping wound in their stomach- and more than anything he tries to ignore the voice that screams _YOU WEREN'T THERE_ , _SHE NEEDED YOU_ , over and over like a broken record.

He remembers Christmas Eve, in that nightmare of a house, remembers finding her- was it her? Or was that just another hallucination?- on the floor, covered in her own blood, pale and weak. He remembers thinking that if she had died, he would've been glad that she pulled the trigger on him beforehand. He wonders if there's any point in staying alive when the only person you love is gone.

Somehow, he sleeps. Scully haunts every thought, some of the images better than others. In one she is sat with him under the stars, holding his hand, and he turns to kiss her hair and everything feels right. In another they are in the same position, but she is coated in blood and whimpering his name and he watches as she coughs up red bubbles, as her eyes go dull and her pulse stops fluttering, powerless to do anything.

When he wakes up her name is on his lips and he can't bring himself to ask anyone for news unless his dream comes true.

xXx

Mulder is there when she wakes up. He looks tired. Sad. Maybe it's because she hung up on him. Did he call her back? Maybe he flew all the way up here to tell her in person. That would be just like him.

"Sorry."

Her voice sounds hoarse. She must've been asleep for a while.

Mulder seems surprised. "For what?"

"I didn't… I didn't say goodbye." She murmurs.

"You didn't need to." He smiles softly, stroking her forehead. "You're still here."

"You're here."

"Yeah, I'm here too." The creases on his forehead are still there, but he looks happier, now. Lighter. "Are you okay? No pain?"

This man really is crazy. She finds herself giggling at his question- why, she's not sure, but it's so funny that she doesn't stop to think about it. But Mulder grins back, so at least she's done something right.

"You're high, Scully. Go to sleep."

She doesn't want to sleep. She wants to stay awake with him. Maybe they can play rummy, or go fish. For whatever reason, she doesn't seem to be able to move very much, so they'd have to stay here, wherever here is- she's in a bed, but not her bed, because her bed doesn't smell like this. And her bedroom walls aren't this colour. Oh, Mulder's talking. What's he saying?

"…when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere."

"Mulder?"

"You've been through a hell of a lot, Scully. Just close your eyes."

_Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close…_

"Fellig…" She remembers something, tries to sit up, but her body won't obey. It slips away, and only one thing remains. "I'm dying…?"

"No!" Mulder's voice is firm, startling. "No. You're not going to die. You've been in surgery for hours and they've only just let me see you, and I thought you were dead. For _hours_ , Scully, and I thought you were going to die but you _haven't_ , so don't you dare give up on me now, don't you _dare_."

"Mulder, what happened?" It's all a blur. None of it makes sense. He was there in the darkroom, but he couldn't have been because he was in Washington, but then why is he here, where _is_ here-

"You were shot, Scully." Mulder's voice is quiet again. "Fellig died on the scene and you-"

"You told me not to look. And you held my hand." She continues, even as Mulder shakes his head. "Fellig couldn't die. He died for me. He did what the nurse did, oh God, Mulder-"

Carefully, soothingly, Mulder strokes her hair, shh-ing her.

"It's okay. It's okay. You're going to be fine, it's the medication. Close your eyes, Scully, just trust me."

Her eyes are so heavy. They close of their own volition, and before she lets the darkness take her back under she whispers to him.

"Don't go."

"I won't." She hears him promise. "I won't."

And she believes him.


End file.
